International News

Air France-KLM shares nosedive after chief quits

  • PARIS, : (APP/AFP) – Shares in Air France-KLM went into freefall on Wednesday, a day after the company said Alexandre de Juniac is to resign as chairman and CEO to take charge of aviation industry group IATA. Juniac helped Europe’s second biggest airline group return to profit last year for the first time since 2008, […]

  • France to urge OECD to put Panama on tax haven list: minister

    PARIS, (APP/AFP) – France on Wednesday urged the OECD to place Panama on its “blacklist” of tax havens following the so-called Panama Papers scandal. “I want the OECD to meet so that the same decision (as France) is taken by all the countries concerned,” French Finance Minister Michel Sapin told Europe 1 radio. Sapin had […]

  • Australia’s Westpac Bank faces court in rate rigging probe

    SYDNEY, (APP/AFP): Westpac Bank has vowed to “vigorously defend” itself against allegations of manipulating the interbank lending rate after Australia’s corporate regulator launched legal action against the financial giant, the second case in a lengthy investigation. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it had commenced legal action against Westpac in the Federal Court […]

  • Dutch vote on key EU-Kiev pact as Europe watches

    THE HAGUE, (APP/AFP) – Dutch people began voting Wednesday on whether to back a key EU pact with Ukraine in a referendum triggered by grassroots eurosceptic groups and seen as a yardstick on ties with Brussels. Polling stations opened across the country from early Wednesday, with a small trickle of voters queueing to cast their […]

  • Japan PM defends US military alliance in rebuff to Trump

    TOKYO, (APP/AFP) – US military bases remain essential to Japan’s security, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an interview Wednesday, as he brushed off comments by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that Tokyo should be left to defend itself. Japan’s alliance with Washington has been the bedrock of its defence since the end of World […]

  • Brazil president faces key call in impeachment drive

    BRASMLIA, (APP/AFP) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s battle to cling to power enters a crucial phase Wednesday as lawmakers hear a motion on whether there are grounds to impeach her. A congressional committee has wrapped up its preliminary sessions and will now hear lawmaker Jovair Arantes present his recommendation on whether congress should vote to […]